Ex-Brazil star Dani Alves sentenced to 4.5 years in jail for rape

(FILES) In this file photo taken on March 4, 2019 Paris Saint-Germain’s Brazilian defender Dani Alves speaks during an interview with AFP at the club’s Camp des Loges training grounds in Saint-Germain-en-Laye, near Paris. – After 17 years playing for the top clubs in Europe, Brazil captain Dani Alves has decided to return home, signing a three-year deal with Sao Paulo. A free agent after his contract with French champions Paris Saint-Germain expired in June, Alves explained his decision on a Twitter video posted on the club website. (Photo by Anne-Christine POUJOULAT / AFP)

A Spanish court on Thursday sentenced former Brazil international Dani Alves to four and a half years in prison after finding him guilty of raping a young woman at a Barcelona nightclub in December 2022.

“The victim did not consent and there is evidence that, beyond the complainant’s testimony, permits the rape to be considered proven,” the Barcelona court wrote in a statement.

Alves was sentenced to jail despite earlier denying that he had sexually assaulted the woman at a nightclub in Barcelona in the early hours of 31 December, 2022.

The victim accused the former Barcelona defender of raping her in a bathroom after which the court ordered Alves to pay her the sum of 150,000 euros (£128,479.50).

The 40-year-old former Brazilian international later admitted that he indeed had sex with the 23-year-old lady but insisted that it was consensual.

State prosecutors had sought a nine-year jail term for Alves if he was found guilty of the offence while a private prosecutor on behalf of the victim wanted a 12-year prison sentence for the retired footballer.

“Daniel Alves has been sentenced to four and a half years in prison after being convicted of sexual assault,”